Thanks go to Shannon Clark for this guest blog. Shannon is a bodybuilder, freelance writer, and editor for SlimKicker, a community that helps motivates people to stay fit. Her writing has also appeared on Bodybuilding.com
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If you’re like most people, you deal with stress everyday – whether it’s during your soul crushing commute, your workday, or taking care of your kids. We may be able to get through a day, a week, or even a month, but mounting stress can turn into something disastrous if you aren’t taking steps to reduce it on a regular basis. We’re talking diseases: both physical and mental.
Fortunately, if you’re proactive, and take some measures, stress doesn’t have to build up. In fact we can learn a few stress-reducing techniques from our primal ancestors. Here’s are six primal ways to reduce stress:
- Get Out Into Nature One of the fastest ways to ease your stress level is to get back out into nature. Go for a hike on a Sunday afternoon. Being away from televisions, cell phones, and the internet will allow you to focus on the peace and serenity of Mother Nature.Our primal ancestors spent the majority of their day outdoors hunting, while most of us probably spent at most a hour or two outdoors if we’re lucky.
- Reconnect With Your Friends And Family Second, take some time to reconnect with your friends and family. Many times we spent all of our time on urgent tasks, and not enough on the important relationships on our lives.Our primal ancestors lived in tribes, and everyone knew everyone else. They also depended on each other for survival. In today’s modern world with mobility, our communities are not as integrated. But that doesn’t mean we should accept things as they are. We just need to be more proactive and ensure we keep in touch with our friends on a regular basis.
- Breathe Right Your breathing rate also has a surprisingly large influence on your stress level as well. In times of stress, our breathing either drops down (which means our brain won’t be getting as much oxygen as it should) or our breathing rate increases, which alters the combination of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our blood.Either way, both of these are undesirable. Next time you find yourself stressed out, take 10 deep breaths. This will have a great calming effect on the body. It’ll also help put you in a state of being calm, cool, and collected.
- Exercise IntenselyThe next way to combat stress is to get some intense exercise each week. Intense exercise has the ability to cause a rush of feel-good endorphins in the body, which will naturally energize you instantly. Go for a sprint session or do some heavy weight lifting. You should be exercising regularly for overall health benefits anyway, but if you aren’t doing intense physical activity, now is the time to add it in.
- Sleep SoundlySleep is critical to managing your stress level, since it allows your body to re-energize and restore itself.Aim to sleep at least eight hours per night and make sure that the sleep you’re getting is of high quality. Turn off all distractions, make sure your room is pitch black, and turn down the temperature. All promote deeper sleep states.
- Laugh It OffFinally, laughing off stress is a great way to combat it fast. If you tend to take things too seriously, this could be why you’re stressed out in the first place.
In ancient days, group get-togethers were done frequently and this provided an opportunity to relax and unwind. Finding ways to bring some joy and laughter into your life – whether it’s spending time with a close friend or watching a comedy movie, can be great for beating stress.
So there you have six smart Primal methods to beat stress. Next time you’re feeling highly stressed out, try one of these out.
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If you have like this blog why not take a look at:
- Signs and Symptoms of Stress
- Work Stress – Do you Have Exploding Head Syndrome? – video
- How to Meditate – Mindfulness for Business – video
If your organisation is looking at stress training in the workplace then call us on 01273 906828.
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